Administrators managing a mixture of devices, some controlled by the TSM device driver and others controlled by the Windows device driver, must set up the appropriate device driver. The TSM device driver is recommended, because it allows TSM to maintain a volume inventory and to assist with some media management tasks. In some cases, when using Windows Removable Storage Manager (RSM) for example, the Windows device driver must be used and in these cases TSM continues to use the devices but with limited TSM media management.For devices not currently supported by the TSM device driver, the Windows device driver may be suitable.
When the operating system is started, the Windows device driver tries to acquire the devices it supports before the TSM device driver can acquire devices. To ensure that device drivers control devices in a predictable manner, see "Selecting the Appropriate Device Driver for Tivoli Storage Manager Devices".
Table 2. Device Types and Recommended Device Drivers
Device Type | Recommended Device Driver |
---|---|
Automated Library Devices | TSM Device Driver (required) |
Manual Library Devices | TSM Device Driver (preferred) |
Manual Library Devices | Windows Device Driver (must meet TSM requirements)
See Adding Devices Not Supported by the Tivoli Storage Manager Device Driver. |
Optical Devices | TSM Device Driver (required) |
Removable Media Devices (attached as local file systems) | Windows Device Driver (required) |
TSM provides a device driver called ADSMSCSI. The TSM driver allows administrators to exclude devices that are reserved for other applications. Some automated library devices require the TSM device driver, and some manual devices can use the Windows device driver with TSM.
Windows device drivers provide basic connectivity for devices using native Windows backup tools using Remote Storage Manager (RSM) or native Windows backup tools. Occasionally, administrators can use devices that are not yet supported by the TSM device driver by using the Windows device drivers. TSM cannot use all of the devices that Windows device drivers support because some devices do not have all the functions that TSM requires. See Adding Devices Not Supported by the Tivoli Storage Manager Device Driver for more information.
When starting Windows, the Windows device driver tries to acquire the devices it supports before the TSM device driver can acquire devices. To ensure that device drivers control devices in a predictable manner, see "Selecting the Appropriate Device Driver for Tivoli Storage Manager Devices".
Using Windows device drivers for TSM devices limits TSM functionality:
Administrators adding devices with the intention of using the Windows device drivers must understand that TSM knows nothing of actual device types and recording formats. For example, using a Windows device driver for a 4mm drive, does not tell TSM that the drive is a 4mm drive using the DDS2 recording format. TSM will know that the device is a tape drive and it will use the drive's default recording format.
TSM is unable to prevent errors when it does not know the device type. For example, if one GENERICTAPE device class points to a manual library device containing both a 4mm drive and an 8mm drive, then TSM may make an impossible request: mount a 4mm cartridge into an 8mm drive. This could happen because TSM does not know that the drives are loaded with incompatible tapes.
TSM cannot report I/O errors with as much detail. Without the TSM device driver, TSM can obtain only minimal information for display in the server console log.
Windows device drivers can be manually started or automatically set to start when the operating system starts. Procedures for controlling the device drivers are described in Selecting the Appropriate Device Driver for Tivoli Storage Manager Devices.